'Arrange a car for us, we will go arrest the accused'

Ten days have passed since South Mumbai resident Maharukh Jamshed Engineer sustained grievous injuries in a case of hit-and-run, but the accused, a resident of Vasai, is yet to be nabbed by the Azad Maidan police. As disturbing as that information is, the flimsy excuses offered by the cops for the delay are what take the cake — ranging from the station being too short-staffed to send cops to Vasai and nab the accused, to cops being busy with IPL bandobast and government exams, or even that the station’s driver is on leave.

Bent out of shape: The accident caused injury to Maharukh’s left foot, right knee, right temple and fractured her right thumb

The incident occurred on May 11 at 6.30 pm, when the 56-year-old Maharukh was on her way home from work. As she reached Princess Street, an Innova with the licence plate MH-04-DY-7304 hit her from behind, while taking a reverse turn. It hit Maharukh and sped away immediately. Friend Hemant Rajput, who witnessed the accident, took her to Saifee hospital immediately with the help of a police van. Maharukh said, “I was crossing the road when the Innova hit me from behind. I fell to the ground and don’t know what happened after that.” Though a case was lodged against the car’s driver on charges of rash driving, and endangering life and safety of another, an arrest is yet to be made.

Jamshed Engineer said, “Soon after my wife was rushed to Saifee hospital, we registered a complaint at the Azad Maidan police station. I don’t know why the police is taking so long to arrest the accused. When my son Mikhail went to the police station, the officer who registered our complaint, Ravindra Pawar, said that they haven’t got the address of the accused, even though I saw the address in their diary.

“The next day, the officer claimed that there are no policemen to get to Vasai for the arrest of accused as they are busy with IPL bandobast. After that he said he was tired. He even said that he could only go so far for the arrest if we arranged a vehicle for him, as their driver was not available. At another time he said that the government exams were on, and he was busy. We have spent more than Rs 1 lakh on my wife’s treatment, and she has undergone three operations. She will only be able to walk after six months.” The accident caused injury to Maharukh’s left foot, right knee, right temple and fractured her right thumb.

The other side Deepak Dhole, senior inspector, Azad Maidan police station, said, "I will find out what is the reason why the accused has not been arrested till now from the duty officer who registered a complaint. It is my duty to get the accused arrested and for that we have not asked for any arrangement of vehicle from the victim's family. The allegations they have made are baseless. We will soon be arresting the accused.” Ravindra Pawar, officer of Azad Maidan, said, “There was no manpower so we couldn’t arrest the accused. You know how police duties are.”